Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Mount Maunganui: New Zealand would love nothing more than to avenge their clean sweep in the T20Is with a 3-0 win, and will be helped by the returning Kane Williamson in their bid.
As was the case during the T20Is, the final one-day international will be an opportunity for both sides to experiment with their bench strength, the only difference being the results, with New Zealand having come out on top this time around.
From India’s point of view, that could mean giving Rishabh Pant, who has warmed the bench all tour thus far, a shot. It could also mean bringing in Manish Pandey, who made the most of his opportunities in the T20Is, but hasn’t been given an opportunity in 50-over cricket. In either case, Kedar Jadhav seems the likeliest member of the team to make way.
For the injury-riddled New Zealand, Kane Williamson’s return will be a welcome one, even if they may have already won the series. Tim Southee bowled through an illness in the second ODI and, depending on his progress, New Zealand might want to rest him to keep him fresh for the Tests and bring in Scott Kuggeleijn.
Virat Kohli has already said that ODIs will be of the least focus for India this year, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come out firing and seek to end the series with a win. As for New Zealand, a clean sweep would taste sweet after they suffered the same fate in the T20Is.
What happened last time
A solid performance from New Zealand’s batting core, led by Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor, fired them to 273/8. It proved 27 too many for India, who lost their way early, before recovering through Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and unlikely batting hero Navdeep Saini.
Conditions
Mount Maunganui will be pleasant and sunny. The last two ODIs at this venue both featured India, during the 2019 series, and if those games are anything to go by, this should be a good batting track. A similar result to those two games should also help India avoid a clean sweep.
